User blog:Kbwwe21/Z.A.P. 47
Hello, my fellow Zootopians! Prepare to get Z.A.P.ped! It's time for this week's edition of the Zootopia Appreciation Post, or Z.A.P. for short. Every Saturday, I'm gonna be posting a different Zootopia-related topic that we can all discuss. For today's topic, I would like to talk about Nick and Judy's questionable actions. Now, I love the fact that Nick and Judy are partners on the police force, but after watching the movie again, I noticed that the duo had done some questionable things. First, when Judy uses the recording on the carrot pen to blackmail Nick, there is audio evidence of Nick committing a crime punishable by jailtime. Since Nick never gets jailed, Judy should not be able to stay as a cop since she tried to cover up a crime. Maybe Nick did pay up for it during the time skip between arresting the Big Bad and becoming a new cop? If so, that would be a lot of money. Also, when Judy gave Nick her pen recorder back during the press conference, Nick might have just deleted it during between then and Judy apologizing to him later, so there's no evidence. In addition, if that logic applies, then Judy should've brought the police force down on Mr. Big's mafia gang as well, because Mr. Big, despite his generosity to her, is still a crime boss and is implied to kill people in cold blood occasionally (not to mention trying to kill her and Nick during their first encounter). Is Judy in the wrong for not reporting in Nick and Mr. Big's crimes to the force? Yes, she is, absolutely. Though it might be justified that she may have come to an agreement with Mr. Big so that his syndicate can be her "underground" ally in solving difficult cases in the city, and that she won't take them into custody as long as his syndicate doesn't directly interfere with the police force and supports them when needed. As for Nick's case, he genuinely tries to be a good person to make up for his past misdeeds by joining up with the police force, plus his crimes aren't really directly hurting anyone (he just avoided paying taxes for two decades) so Judy decided that she can let it slide. Judy commits dozens of crimes during the film, and simply continuing to associate with people like Mr Big likely constitutes committing more every day. She doesn't seem to care, and to be honest neither do I. She's a likable and effective anti-hero, no better than Nick really, and she's definitely not lawfully good. The movie is pretty much about flawed people in a flawed society, trying to make a better world in complex situations that don't always line up flawlessly with the law and accepted morality. I love Zootopia precisely because it sits nicely in my ideal spot on the Sliding Scale of Idealism vs Cynicism. And after solving a mass abduction case who's going to question her deductive reasoning? As for Judy's other "crimes" they were all mostly just inaction, but she wasn't obligated to take on any of them in the first place. Cops on major cases don't need to dole out petty justice to every petty criminal they see because it would get in the way of solving their actual assignment. As Nick made clear the day he met Judy, the only "crime" he's ever committed is tax evasion — hardly heinous enough that Judy would feel motivated to turn him in, and, with the only piece of evidence to that effect gone, she has no fear of the Feds finding out. While technically violating the law in its most literal form, it's not like it's going to hurt anyone, and I can't imagine anyone in Judy's position valuing enforcing the Federal tax code over her friendship with someone who helped her so much. It's also plausible he was granted a pass on it because he was so key into bringing down a terrorist. Finally, does anyone who asks these questions know how the legal system works in real life? It's not strictly a case of Black and White Morality. Police officers and others will often make deals with criminals for information in exchange for charges being diminished or even dismissed. I hope this doesn't make you like Nick and Judy or Zootopia less than before. If anything, it makes me like them even more, because they are portrayed as human in personality as possible, which I feel, makes them more real. So, what do you guys think? Sound off in the comments below! Category:Blog posts